Docusign clarifications

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Hello everyone.
I’m a little confused as it regards the use of docuSign. I’ve read instances on this forum where some people were rejected because the document trail shows that the letter originated from them when they tried to send it to the recommender to sign.
This is what tech nation says:

Letters of recommendation can be created using a digital signature service (such as DocuSign or similar service), enabling the inclusion of the document log file that clearly indicates the letter’s author and signature originated from a different IP address to the applicant. Letters must uploaded on Tech Nation’s Application Platform.

  1. Does it mean whoever is writing the letter should have a docusign/dropboxsign account so that the document trail will list him/her as the originator and signer?

  2. According to this: that clearly indicates the letter’s author and signature originated from a different IP address to the applicant. are they expecting to see both my ip address and my recommenders’ ip address in the document trail to confirm they are different?

Any clarification is greatly appreciated.

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@Francisca_Chiedu, @alexnk @ask4jubad, your help will be greatly appreciated.

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You can send the document to be signed from your Docusign account to the recommender.
Make sure to include the log page showing that the your IP addresses are different.

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What they are are suggesting is that the letter must not be written by the applicant and the signature trail.mist come from the author( recommender).

If the letter was emailed from the applicant’s docusign account, it suggests that the letter was not written by the recommender.

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This is slightly confusing for me please. My letters were sent to my email by the recommenders. They used an e-signature for it and there’s nowhere on the letter that has a trail of IP address etc. When I upload the letters on Technation’s platform, where will they get the so-called email trail from? Are we supposed to also upload the Certificate Of Completion for docusign? I’m so confused

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When the e-sign is completed, Docusign will generate a new downloadable PDF file for you which has the additional page (signature trail / certificate) attached to the original letter in addition.

For example: the original letter has 3 pages. The completed signed file will have 4 pages, which includes “3 original pages” and “1 signature trail page”, which is still fine towards the 3-page limit by Tech Nation.

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I agree with the above responses. One thing I did to ensure there would be no questions about where my letters came from is I made sure the recommenders inserted a signature on their PDF, sent it back to me, and then I had them Docusign next to their original signatures (essentially showing that while I sent the Docusign request, they had already signed their letters with their real signature). I then attached the full page of IP address proof as the second or third pages of the letters.

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Okay. Thanks for your reply. Does it mean that the trail should show only the the recommender’s details?

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Great. Thanks for this tip. I’ll explore this option.

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… I thought to mention for those passing by that the use of Docusign is not compulsory … and if Docusign is used the issue to look out for really is where and how did the recommendation letter originate.

In a case, that I saw on here, the applicant generated the letter for the recommender to sign. It begs the question of who wrote the letter.

You have options of

  • recommender to print the letter , sign and then scan (waste of paper)
  • sign using a PDF writer solution like Luminpdf.com (works with Google drive)
  • any other way that the recommender would sign letters today including simply inserting their png signature on a doc file ( note: some people advice to avoid this but it has not been an issue for me )

I think what is important is for no one to need to question the origin of the letter.

ps:sometimes they could call / contact your recommender to confirm if the letter came from them.

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@xplorer1, yes, apparently so.

Look at this comment by @badesemowo

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Does anyone have a final clarity on what’s the ideal process for generating letters of recommendation?

  1. Who writes the letter and uploads on Docusign? (certainly, the recommender will need to write the letter from their viewpoint, but do they also need to go through the process of uploading it on Docusign themselves; can’t I do it?)

  2. Who then forwards it to which party?

  3. How to demonstrate that the letter is written by the recommender and not by the applicant?

Thank you for your help in this @Francisca_Chiedu @alexnk @May @ask4jubad !

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You can get the recommender to sign with a pen or they use docusign and the letter originates from them to the applicant.

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Thank you very much!

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The letter originates from the recommender, who then uploads it on Docusign, and forwards it to the applicant.

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Thank you very much!

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I did it the other way around, since I didn’t want to ask all the authors to create docusign accounts.
They sent the unsigned letters to me, I uploaded then to my docusign and sent them to be signed through docusign.
When uploading the evidence to TN I made sure to include the log page that shows the signer’s IP address and that it’s different than mine.
TN accepted this.

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